MacBook Basics

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Usually, a window on your MacBook gets opened by an application (when you first run it or when it needs to display a document) or by Mac OS X itself (when the Finder opens a window to display the contents[more…]

Often, more stuff is in a document or more files are on your hard drive than you can see in the space available for a window. Just use the scroll bars that you see to move through the contents of the window[more…]

You might think that juggling multiple applications on your MacBook will lead to confusion, fatigue, and dry mouth, but luckily Mac OS X includes a number of features that make it easy to jump between[more…]

The Finder’s Info dialog is the place on your MacBook to view the specifics on any highlighted item (including drives and aliases). Select an item and press Command+I, click the Action toolbar button and[more…]

Many Apple switchers and first-time owners quickly notice the video camera that accompanies the latest MacBooks: a tiny square lens and LED light at the top of the screen. That's your MacBook’s built-in[more…]

You don’t need an expensive digital camcorder to produce video clips for use in iMovie! Your MacBook’s camera can capture those clips for you — think of the party possibilities! To capture video directly[more…]

The Address Book is a standalone application on your MacBook, earning a default location in the Dock and available whenever you need it. It’s true that in early versions of Mac OS X, Address Book was relegated[more…]

Although the Address Book is now offered as a standalone application on your MacBook, you still have to add contacts to your Address Book manually. Here is how to create a new contact within your Address[more…]

Okay, after you have your contact information in Address Book on your MacBook, what can you actually do with it? Often, all you really need is a quick glance at an address. To display the card for any[more…]

Address Book, now a standalone application on your MacBook, provides you with a method of organizing your cards into groups. A group usually consists of folks with a common link, such as your family, friends[more…]

For those moments when you need an archaic hard copy, Address Book offers a whopping four different formats for printing your contacts: mailing labels, envelopes, lists, and even a snappy pocket address[more…]

Need hard information about your MacBook hardware? You can use the System Information utility. You might need to determine precisely what hardware is installed in your MacBook for the following reasons[more…]

Activity Monitor is specially designed to show you just how hard your CPU, hard drive, network equipment, and memory modules are working behind the scenes. To run Activity Monitor on your MacBook, open[more…]

An important application in your MacBook maintenance toolbox is Disk Utility, which you find — no surprise here — in the Utilities folder within your Applications folder. When you first run this program[more…]

Don’t get fooled into simply using Spotlight on your MacBook as another file-’n-folder-name search tool. Sure, it can do that, but Spotlight can also search inside PDF, Word, Pages and HTML files, finding[more…]

Time Machine is awesome, but some MacBook owners prefer a more traditional automated backup and restore process — one that doesn’t involve running the Time Machine application and navigating through the[more…]

Ready to share your music, podcasts, and video — legally, mind you — with other folks on your local network from your MacBook? You can offer your digital media to other iTunes users across your home or[more…]

The addition of Apple’s new Ping social networking feature to iTunes has quickly built a formidable online community! When you enable Ping within iTunes, you can interact with both artists and other music[more…]

Besides being a great audio player, iTunes is adept at creating CDs, too, which you can play on your MacBook. iTunes makes the process of recording songs to a CD as simple as a few clicks. Making the modern[more…]

You know that iTunes is a feast for the ears, but did you know that it can provide you with eye candy as well? With just a click or two on your MacBook, you can view mind-bending graphics that stretch,[more…]

Do young children use your MacBook? A large amount of content within the iTunes Store, including audio, movies and even apps, is not suitable for kids. Luckily, you can use the Parental settings within[more…]